Richardson leaves Virginia Tech, returns to ODU as assistant coach

John Richardson will return to Old Dominion as an assistant coach as part of the staff exodus that contributed to Seth Greenberg's termination at Virginia Tech.

Richardson, who spent five years at ODU after winning a pair of state championships at Woodside High, rejoins the Monarchs' staff, according to head coach Blaine Taylor.

"John Richardson will be joining our staff," Taylor said Monday evening. "We've been working to reorganize our staff and are still putting the pieces together at this time. I'm not at liberty to speculate on how exactly it's all going to come together, but I believe it's going to be a very positive situation."

A source told the Virginian-Pilot that longtime assistant Rob Wilkes would move into an administrative position, thus creating an opening for Richardson on the coaching staff, but Taylor would not confirm or deny that move.

Richardson, 38, spent the past two years on Greenberg's staff. Notably, he helped land Dorian Finney-Smith from Norcom, the Hokies' highest-profile recruit since Dell Curry. But Richardson resigned from the Hokies' staff once it became apparent that he would be able to resurface at ODU. He was unavailable for comment on Monday.

All three of Greenberg's full-time assistants, as well as the Hokies' director of basketball operations, left after last season. Richardson is the seventh assistant to leave the Hokies' staff in the past four years, a trend that Tech athletic director Jim Weaver cited Monday as one of the reasons for firing Greenberg after nine seasons.

Richardson was an ODU assistant from 2005-10. He served two years as a full assistant and the previous three years as director of basketball operations.

A native of Lewiston, N.C., Richardson was head coach at Woodside from 2002-05. He won back-to-back Group AAA state titles in '04 and '05 with teams that starred Stefan Welsh and Calvin Baker. He was an assistant at Woodside from 2000-02 and served as JV head coach from 1996-99.